CSeries Delay - Bombardier Gets Real

Wed, 2012-11-07 15:57

Bombardier has delayed the first flight and first delivery of its CSeries airliner. The year-end deadline to fly has looked increasingly unachievable for months, and the Canadian company says first flight will now take place by the end of June 2013.

Entry into service of the initial CS100 version has also been pushed back from the end of 2013 and is now planned a year after first flight, Bombardier says. The schedule for the larger CS300 remains unchanged, the company says, with entry into service still planned for the end of 2014.

Bombardier blames the now-familiar "supplier issues" for the delays. Here's what the company says in its third-quarter earnings release issued this morning:

"The CSeries aircraft development program is making solid progress. The build for both the Complete Airframe Static Test (CAST) and the first flight test aircraft is progressing well. Results from the on-the-ground integrated systems test and certification rig (CIASTA/Aircraft 0) are as expected.

A number of key milestones have already been met, but at this point in the program the Aerospace group has encountered certain issues, mainly related to some suppliers. Therefore, first flight will now take place by the end of June 2013 and it is expected that entry-into-service (EIS) of the CS100 aircraft will occur approximately one year after first flight.

The timeline for the CS300 aircraft, which represents a significant portion of the program's orders and commitments, remains unchanged with EIS scheduled for the end of 2014."